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The Jaguars struggled to throw the ball because of pressure by the Clover defense.

Quarterback John Crawford was 2 for 4 for 13 yards and couldn’t find open targets over the first two quarters. The Blue Eagles forced him to run out of the pocket, gaining 43 yards on seven carries.

Clover stuck to its game plan, patiently waiting on the big offensive gainer and playing stout defense.

Cody Payne’s 51-yard touchdown in the second quarter represented the majority of Clover’s offense in the first half – 92 yards rushing and 13 yards passing.

The Blue Eagle defense held Forestview in check, forcing the Jags to punt on three of their five possessions.

“In the second half I actually thought we played better,” said Clover coach Chad Smith. “We basically ran the football down a pretty good football teams’ throat in the second half. The problem was they ran it just as much down our throats.”

Neal caught a 34-yard pass to set up a 3-yard touchdown to put Forestview ahead 22-8 at the beginning of the third quarter.

“In the second half we tried to get back to doing what we do,” said Forestview coach Chris Medlin. “We had to take some shots.”

A long drive by Clover chewed up seven minutes on the ensuing possession but didn’t yield points. It began on the Clover 32 and ended on Forestview’s 28-yard line on a failed fourth-down conversion.

Neal scored from the 2-yard line for his fourth touchdownwith 11:01 in the fourth quarter and extended the Jaguars’ lead to 29-8.

Neal’s final touchdown with 7:29 remaining on a 52-yard scamper capped off an 18-carry night.

“We expect that from him but he’s getting some help,” Medlin said. “The line must have played really well. It was a team win.”

Clover managed two fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 3-yard run by R.J. Moore and a 2-yard run by quarterback Noah Lindsay.

Crawford finished with 141 yards rushing and 87 yards passing on five completions.